After missing out on the men’s 10m platform finals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Great Britain’s Tom Daley won gold at the 2017 FINA Diving World Championships. Daley, who won bronze in the same event at the 2012 London Olympics won his last world championship 10m platform gold back in 2009 when he was just 15 years old.
Daley was awarded four 10’s on his final dive in Budapest, Hungary, beating China’s Chen Aisen – the reining 2016 Olympic champion in men’s 10m platform. The two divers tied on their last dive, both earning 106.20 points, but Daley, who had been in command after each of his dives on Saturday, beat Chen out for the top spot by 5.7 points.
Daley’s struggles in Rio were inexplicable. In the preliminary round, he scored 571.85 points, a personal best, and a score which would have won him gold at the 2012 London Olympic Games. However, in semifinal dives, Daley could not execute, finishing 18th in an event where only the top 12 advance to the finals.
Earlier in the day in Budapest, Daley, along with teammate Grace Reid, won silver in the mixed 3m springboard event. On Monday, in the men’s synchronized 10m platform, Daley and teammate Danie Goodfellow finished fourth.
The sole U.S. diver in the men’s 10m platform event in Budapest, David Dinsmore, finished sixth. Dinsmore who narrowly missed out on making his first Olympic team at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials, won bronze in Budapest with teammate Krysta Palmer in the mixed team event.
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